1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to three-piece solid golf balls which are improved in feeling without sacrificing flying performance and durability.
2. Prior Art
Golf balls of various structures are currently on the market. Among others, two-piece solid golf balls and thread-wound golf balls share the majority of the market. The two-piece solid golf ball has a rubber based core and an enclosing cover typically of ionomer resin while the thread-would golf ball is produced by winding thread rubber around a solid or liquid center and enclosing the center in a cover.
Most amateur golfers are fond of two-piece solid golf balls which have excellent flying performance and durability although these balls have the disadvantages of a very hard feel on hitting and low control due to rapid ball separation on striking. For this reason, many of professional golfers and skilled amateur golfers prefer wound golf balls to two-piece solid golf balls. The wound golf balls are superior in feeling and control, but inferior in flying distance and durability to the two-piece solid golf balls.
Under the present situation that two-piece solid golf balls and wound golf balls have contradictory characteristics as mentioned above, players make a choice of golf balls depending on their own skill and taste.
In order to develop solid golf balls having a hitting feel approximate to the wound golf balls, two-piece solid golf balls of soft type have been considered. For such two-piece solid golf balls of soft type, soft cores must be used. If the cores are soft, however, repulsion becomes low with a concomitant loss of flying performance and durability is considerably deteriorated. That is, the superior flying performance and durability which are characteristic of two-piece solid golf balls are lost, and in an extreme case, the balls become unacceptable for practical use. Stated differently, since conventional two-piece solid golf balls have the structure which is determined by optimizing three parameters, softness, repulsion and durability, one of these parameters can be improved only at the sacrifice of other parameters.